© Trump seemed bored listening to his former accountant testify at his fraud trial. Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP/Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP/External source
Laura Italian
New York, NY – The judge in Trump’s fraud trial angrily noted a “flagrant violation” of his gag order prohibiting attacks on his legal staff.
One offensive post remained on the Trump campaign site after the order; the defense called it “truly involuntary.”
“Donald Trump remains responsible for the great machinery” of his campaign, the judge said when postponing a decision on the sanctions.
1 ©Photos capture the strange scenes surrounding the third impeachment of Donald Trump/Dana Verkouteren via AP/External source
Donald Trump was indicted in federal court in DC.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Supporters and protesters showed up outside the courthouse for the arraignment.
Former President Donald Trump arrived in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Thursday afternoon to plead not guilty to charges accusing him of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The procedural event took place within the Elijah Barrett Prettyman Federal Court like any other judicial procedure.
Trump answered some basic questions and declared: “Not guilty.” However, the moment had significant historical weight. At no other time in American history has a former president had to answer to three accusations.
Groups of media members, Trump supporters and protesters stood near the courthouse as they watched Trump’s motorcade enter the federal building. No cameras were allowed inside the courtroom where Trump was arraigned.
Here’s how the day unfolded for Trump as he was impeached following his third impeachment.
The judge in Donald Trump’s fraud trial in New York angrily threatened the former president with a contempt ruling, severe financial penalties and “possible imprisonment” in court, expressing his displeasure over an “inflammatory” campaign publication that he said violates his silence order.
Trump’s lead defense attorney in the ongoing trial argued in response that the post, which disparaged New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron’s top law clerk, had been left on the campaign website in an error. “truly inadvertent” that it had nothing to do with the former president.
But Engoron, who did not immediately impose any sanctions for the violation, expressed displeasure with Trump’s lawyer’s explanation.
“Donald Trump is still responsible for the big machine” of his campaign, Engoron said, adding that “although it is a big machine.”
Raising the threat of harsh sanctions, Engoron, whose legal assistant was sitting next to him, began by describing the history and context behind the gag order and the post, which had remained on the Trump campaign site until it was finally It was removed Thursday night. .
On October 3, “the accused Donald Trump published a false, derogatory and personally offensive post about my top legal assistant,” Engoron began.
© Donald Trump violated a New York judge’s gag order with this post, which was deleted yesterday, state officials alleged/Social Truth/External Source
The post falsely claimed that the employee, attorney Allison Greenfield, was the girlfriend of New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat frequently attacked by Trump and the right.
The publication used a photo from a campaign event where Greenfield posed next to Schumer and accused her of “bringing this case against me.”
The post was immediately removed from Truth Social at his request, Engoron said, noting that Trump promised they “would not engage in similar actions in the future.” Engoron prohibited Trump from posting, emailing or making statements that could be seen as “personal attacks on members of my staff.”
@ Related video (content in English)/External source
“Despite this clear order, last night I learned that the offending post was never removed from the website” of the Trump campaign, Engoron continued, noting that it was not removed until “last night.”
These positions are extremely dangerous “in the current incendiary atmosphere,” Engoron said. He then asked Trump’s lawyers “why this flagrant violation of the gag order should not result in severe financial penalties that condemn the defendant to contempt and possible imprisonment.”
Lead defense attorney Christopher Kise spoke on Trump’s behalf, calling the persistent posting on the campaign site a “truly inadvertent” error.
“The Truth publication was deleted” immediately, Kise said, and his client “has complied with the order completely.” The defense learned last night that the post remained “on the back pages of the campaign website.”
Lawyers for the attorney general’s office, whose fraud trial against Trump and his company is in its third week, did not comment on possible sanctions. The judge did not indicate when he would rule.
Just before noon, Kise, who had been asked to provide audience metrics for the offending post, returned with some numbers.
Between October 3, when the gag order was issued, and October 19, when it was lifted, there were 114 million visitors to the Trump campaign website, but only 3,701 people clicked on the post.
2023-10-21 08:14:17
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